Life convict in Dharmapuri bus torching case released; pays visit to Mariyamman temple

Dharmapuri: Muniyappan, along with two other life convicts Neduchezhian and Ravindran, were released from Vellore central jail on Monday. Muniyappan visited the Mariyamman temple and paid the goddess his respects before going home. The three were convicted in the Dharmapuri bus torching case, that had killed three college students Gokilavani, Gayatri and Hemalatha in Tamil Nadu. The trio had torched the bus in protest against Supreme Court's order, which was against then AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa in the Pleasant Stay Hotel case. The incident occurred on February 2, 2000. The apex court had commuted their death sentence to life imprisonment in March 2016. Muniyappan and the other two were released under the Tamil Nadu government's premature release scheme on the occasion of former chief minister MG Ramachandran's birth centenary.